Apparatus for treating petroleum



NW, 8, 1932. c. P. DUBBS APPARATUS FOR TREATING PETROLEUM Original Filed June 2 1. 1919 Patented Nov. 8, 1932 UNITED-STA E PA @FFICE CARBON P. DUBBS, OF WILMETTE,;ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOREO 'UNJiVERSAL OIL PRODUCTS 1 COMPANY, OF CHIGAGO, ILLINOIS, A UCEPORA'IION OF-SOUTH DAKOTA' 'Arr'AnArus Fen TREATING minimum Original application filed June 21, 191s sria 'naeoawa Divided and application filed September 6,1521; Serial No. 498,887. Againdivided and this application filed July 1, 1925, Serial 1101.40,?04. V Renewed August 19, 1929.

5 Serial No. 305,793, upon which Patent boiling points.

1,488,325 was issued March 25, 192%.

This invention relates to an apparatus for treating petroleum and other hydrocarbons to produce therefrom products having lower The invention contemplates an apparatus for continuously treating petroleum; an ap paratus whereby petroleum is passed through a heating zone, then through a vaporizing chamber,' wherein part of it remains liquid containing-such solids originally in the oil or; formed while being heated,

the liquid being intermittently or continuousl drawn from such va orizin chamber and carrying with it more or less of the solid matter an apparatus in which the vapors liberated in the vaporizingzone'are passed through a series of pools of liquid oil subjecting the vapors to a dephlegmating action; an apparatus in which thecirculation of the vapors may be controlled by a pump interposed in the vapor line; an apparatus which utilizes the raw oil as a reflux condensing agent, the reflux condensatecombining with the raw oil prior to its being introduced to the heating zone, an apparatus whereby an increased amount of the heat generated is utilized in the system an apparatus in which the raw oil is caused to circulate down through successive poolsmaintained in the dephlegmator, subjecting the vapors bubbling therethrough to a refluxing actiomthe raw oiland condensate being drawn as from the bottom of the dephlegmator; an apparatus whereby the oil under treatment is heated in one stage and such heat treatment so controlled and regulated as to prevent any sub-' to provide an improved apparatus of the character referred to. 1

, In the drawing I v Fig: l is a diagrammatic side elevation section of my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the vaporizing chambers and the immediate; piping.

' Fig; 3 is a topfcross sectional view of'that section of Fig. 1, in Whlcu the pools of oil are shown. This is a cross section taken on the line 33 of Fig. '1."

In describing the attached drawing, and operation of the apparatus, the oil to be treated is drawn from a source (not shown), and is forced into the. apparatus through valve marked K'1,-through line K, through the perforated line K 2, which latter line extends across the bottem'of the top pool of Oil i'n't he chamber marged L-w. The oil vapors which percolate up through this pool of oil are passed. off through vapor line L, through the pressure regulatingvalve L-l, through gooseneck L2, to condensingcoil L3 positioned; in condensing. tank L7, thence through line L 1 into tank M, along with the incondensable gases. Water ,isit'ed to-tank L7 through line and travels out' of said tank through line 11-6; The'com densate collected in tank M is" drawn 0E through line M-1 having positioned thereon pressure regulating valve M'2, while the incondensable gas is drawn oil through line M3 throughpressure regulating valve M-4 andon thistank is a liquid level gauge M-6 and a pressure gauge M*5.- Tanks M and L7 rest on the supportsmarked The level of the top pool of oil in the chamber Lw is maintained approximately-at J and any surplus flows through pipe J'-1 into the pool of oil directly thereunder, the-level of this pool beingmaintained at point marked header A, and passes throughlines'B into header A-l. In each of these headers opposite each end of the tubesB are positioned plugs A3 for the purpose of allowing entry to said tubes for cleaning same and opposite these plugs are furnace doors A 4 and A5 which by opening give ready access to said P ug The tubes B and headers A and A-1 are positioned in the furnace A-6. I As theoil passes through these tubes B from header A into header A1, it is subjected to heat, which convertsa portion into lowerboiling point products, and the oil flows from header A1 through line G, into header C1,'having positioned therein pyrometer N and through valve C2 into retort D, which retort has manholes marked D-D, pressure gauge P.

As the oil passes through tank D, a proportion of same is vaporized and passes up through vapor lines E into header E1, and through valve E2 into line E4:. Through the line El, the valve E5 being opened j while the valves E'.7 and E10are closed, the vapors pass into the bottom compartment of the chamber Lw., Any proportion conclensing drains into the bottom compartment of chamber Lm, and is automatically returned to the heating tubes B' through line ll-4, valve J5.bein g open. The uncondensed portion passes up through the pipes marked Fl and by means of caps G are forced downwardly and discharged near the bottom into the pool of oil in that chamber. The bottoms of the caps marked G are perforated at the points marked H; -The vapors as they bubble up through this pool of oil give up more or less ofthe'ir heat and more or less of the vapors are condensed and as they bubble up through this liquid; they are more or less scrubbed. The excess oil accumulated in this pool travels through pipe JV-2' into thepool of oil contained in the. compartment directly. thereunder, the pipe J 2 extending down intothe pool of oil to a point near the bottom, thus forming a liquid seal so that no vapors contained in the lower chamber can pass up throughfpipe J-2into the upper chamber. The remaining :vapors pass up through pipes F-2 and are forced by means ofcaps G-l downwardly to a point near the bottom of the pool of oil contained in this chamber and there escape into said pool of oil through the. perforations at a point marked H in said caps or if these arenot of suflicientcapacity, the excess vapors can pass clear down under the bottom of the caps and escape up through the oil from that point.

As such vapors percolate up through this pool of oil, more or less of the heat in same is extracted and acquired by the pool of oil, thus causing more or less of the vapors to condense and be retained in such pool of oil and act to have a scrubbing effect on remainingvapors; The surplus oil accumulating in this chamber travels through pipe J-3 into the pool contained in the chamber immediately thereunder, such pipe extending to near the bottom of said latter pool, so as to prevent any vapors passing therethrough from the latter chamber up into the former chamber. The remaining vapors in the last mentioned pool pass up through pipes F and by means of capsv G- -Z are forced'down to near the bottom of the pool of oil contained in this chamber and are there discharged into said pool of oil through the perforated places marked H or by passing completely under the bottom of caps G2 and as they percolate up through this pool of oil, more or less heat is extracted therefrom and retained in the oil forming this pool, which causes more or less of such vapors to be condensed and retained in this pool of oil and the surplus of such oil overflows through piped-d into the pool immediately thereunder, being discharged in said pool near the bottom so as to prevent any vapors in said lower chamber passing through this pipe into the upper chamber. There may be as many pools of oil as are shown in the chamberLm or as desired or found necessary to sufliciently scrub the vapors passed therethrough and to reduce and condense any desired portions of the vapors to produce the desired boiling point,vthe remaining vapors passing from said chamber L-:c .through pressure regulating. valve L-l, through gooseneck L .2 as already described. These pools of oil may be contained in one chamber as shown in the drawing and marked Le-m or in more than one chamber. The excess oil in the bottom pool of each chamber being returned to the heating pipes B in the same manner as shown in the drawing, and as this will be readily understood by those versed. in the art, I have not deemed it necessary to show more than one chamber marked L m.

In case it is desired to stimulate the flow of vapors from the vaporizing chamber into drawn off either continuously or intermit-f tently through line 13-3, through valve D-5 and with it is carried 03 more or less of the carbon formed in the cracking of the oil. Vaporizing chamber D is duplicated, as shown, in vaporizing chamber marked D-l. This is for the reason that when it becomes necessary to clean vapor chamber D, the rest of the apparatus can be kept in operation by diverting the flow of heated oil coming from the heating tubes B into the other vaporizing chamber D-l by the opening of valve C3 and the vapors passed therefrom by the opening of valve E3. The unvaporized portion in tank Dl is drawn off through valve D5 through line D-4 and the discharge of the heated oil into tank D is stopped by the closing of valves C2. In due time, the manholes marked DD on this latter tank can be opened and the tank cleaned; said tank will be ready to be put back in service by the time it becomes necessary to clean tank Dl, this being doneby the closing of valves C3, and E3 and the opening of valves 6-2 and E 2. These vapor chambers are supported by supports marked X. Said vaporizing chambers and vapor lines marked E and section of vapor lines marked E-l are heavily insulated as indicated by D8l in Fig. 1; The purpose of such insulation isfor preventing loss of heat from this section and to prevent any portion of the oil, after once being vaporized, from condensing and mixing with that portion remaining in the vapor chamber unvaporized. These vapor chambers are maintained only partly full of oil.

It will be noted that the raw oil is fed into the top or last pool of oil in the chamber L-ae, which is of the lowest temperature and flows from there into the next succeeding pool of oil, which is higher in temperature 55 and then to the next, which is still higher etc., thus being progressively subjected to increasing temperatures and also mixed with such oils as are condensed in these pools of oil and such mixture returned for further heating. Thus, the raw oil being fed in is being preheated before passing tothe heating coils B and thus utilizing more or less of the heat given up by the vapors. Itis to be noted that by this novel arrangement the raw 35 oil feed through the pools is preheated, and

carboncontentL I also the condensate resultingfromfthe con densation ofv heavier vapors maintained in a hot condition. The oil accumulating in the dephlegmatoris discharged to the cracking coil through theline J4.

Amongother advantages of this process are the control ofthe amount of cracking 'doneon each passage'of the oil through the heating or cracking tubes B, the separation and withdrawal from the apparatus of the cunvaporized portion remaining in the vapor chamberalong with more or less of the carbon formed the fractional condensing of the vapors generated and the return to the heating tubes of those fractions of not sufficiently low-boiling point. These fractions which are returnedto the heating tubes represent the reflux condensate and do not-haveany free It willalsobe observed that in this arrangement, great economy in fuel will'be gained. The temperature to which the oil is heated may vary from a minimum of 200 degrees F. to 600 degrees F., and from a maximum of 600 degrees F. to 1500 degrees F. While the pressure maintained may vary. from minimum to a few'pounds to the square inch to a maximum of 800 pounds to the square inch. These ranges oftemperature and pressure are by no means arbitrary.

vI claim:

1. In an apparatus forconverting hydrocarbon oil, the combinationwith a furnace having a heating coil disposed therein, 7 a plurality of enlarged chambers disposed outside of said furnace, means for establishing direct communication between said coil and either of said enlarged chambers whereby heated hydrocarbons may be passed directly from the heating coil through one of said chambers until substantial coke deposition occurs therein and then diverted to the other chamber, means for preventing a substantial decrease in the temperature of the oil in either of said chambers, a vapor transfer line communicating with each chamber, dephlegmating means communicating with said transfer line, a pump adapted to be placed in communication with said vapor transfer line, and means for bypassing-said pump, means for collecting separated pools of charging oil in said dephlegmating means,

means for passing. vapors through said deenlarged chambers disposed outside of said furnace, a common header in communication with said chambers, a transfer .line connecting said coil With said header, means positioned in said header for selectively directing Oll from the co1l to any one of said-enlarged chambers, a vapor header in communlcation With each of said chambers, a vapor transfer line connected to said header, dephlegmating means in communication with said transfer line, means positioned insaid vapor header for establishing direct communication from any one of said chambers to said dephlegmating means, a pump interposed in said vapor transfer line, and means for bypassing said pump, means for introducing charging oil to the dephlegmating means, means for supplying unvaporized charging oiland reflux condensate from the dephleg'mating means to the heating coil, and means for maintaining a superatmospheric pressure on the oil undergoing treatment in the apparatus.

CARBON P. DUBBS. 7 

